Bike Trip: Days 1-3

This has been quite the whirlwind of a trip so far. I can't believe its already the 3rd day of biking and we have made it all the way to Seneca Falls. It has been quite busy and when I finish my days mostly all I want to do is eat and sleep...so there hasn't been a lot of time for blogging yet (plus no wifi at the lock we camped at last night). Once the trip is over I will do more detailed entries about the trip when I have more time.


Day 1:
I biked from Lockport to Spencerport alone on Day 1. Unfortunately most things in all the little towns were closed along the way, so my exploration was limited. I was able to meet some great people along the way, had some good food, and was able to end up at home hanging out with my friends and family at my local haunt McColley's Irish Pub at the end of the day.

 

Day 2:
Spencerport to Macedon. My sister joined me on Day 2 and is going to do the rest of the trip with me, it has made the ride a lot more enjoyable and we are able to motivate each other to keep going. It was smooth sailing as most of the trail through Rochester is paved. We stopped in Pittsford and took a ride on the Sam Patch through Lock 32. We also had a good time in Fairport at Fairport Brewing Company. We camped at Lock 30 in Macedon.

Day 3:

Macedon to Seneca Falls. We had another addition to the bike crew, Collin, my sisters boyfriend met up with us in Macedon and is going to bike with us till Thursday. We had a great time at Historic Palmyra (great historic sites that I would recommend anyone to check out). We also stopped at the Museum of Wayne County History. Biking through Amish country to Seneca Falls was beautiful, just lots of rolling hills that will hopefully give us great legs by the end of the journey. We are spending the night in Seneca Falls, and are looking forward to continuing to explore this town tomorrow morning. 

Stay tuned for more updates!

Bike Trip: Preparing to Leave

So the trip starts this weekend! Unfortunately I had to cancel the first day due to complications with finding a biking companion. So I will be starting my trip in Lockport on Sunday morning and going all the way to Albany. My sister has agreed to join me on the trip, which I am looking forward to, and I have a friend that is going to drive and carry our gear for us. The trip is packed full of site visits and exploring all the communities along the way.

We will be doing a combination of camping and staying in hotels and biking around 45 miles a day. I have been doing lots of training in preparation for the trip and have been reaching out to sites to arrange visits. Now all I have left to do is finish packing!

Follow along here for updates along the way. I will be blogging and posing on social media throughout the whole trip.

I would like to give a special thank you to the Erie Canalway National Heritage Corridor for giving me a travel grant to help pay for my travel expenses along the way!

Bike Trip

As Assistant Director of the museum I am interested in learning all I can about the Erie Canal and seeing what this amazing engineering feat has to offer. So the last week of May I am taking 9 days and biking the whole Erie Canal from Buffalo to Albany (all 363 miles of it!).

Along the way I will be stopping in all the little towns and villages, and visiting as many of the wonderful museums that lay along the canal as I can. I purchased myself a wonderful new bike and found a friend to take the trip with me.

Yesterday was the first day I got my bike out on the towpath, though it was quite cold and windy so I didn't get too far. I am looking forward to nice weather so I can get out more and get into shape for this trip.

I will be sharing updates and blogging the whole trip to keep everyone informed of what I am doing and the amazing places I have seen. So follow along from May 23 to June 1 as I bike the Erie Canal. 

Railroad Spikes

Falls Road Spike 

From New York Central Falls Road which ran from Rochester to Niagara Falls.

Falls Road came through Spencerport and ran until 1982.

Rail road spikes are large nails with an offset head that is used to secure rails and base plates to rail road ties in the track. Robert Livingston Stevens invented the spike in 1832 and it was used for over a hundred years in order to fasten the railways. In 1982 spikes were still being used to fasten rails in North America. While men worked on railroads these spikes were driven into the wooden sleepers on the railroad by hand using massive hammers. Later machines were used to drive the spikes into the ground.Spikes like the one above were used to build rail roads everywhere.The spike pictured above can be found in the Spencerport Depot and Canal Museum.

Guest post by Kelli Emler

Matheos Brothers Ice Cream

Some of my favorite local Spencerport history revolves around the Matheos Ice Cream Shop and Factory. The museum has some great artifacts related to Matheos and I always love sharing them with visitors.

In the early 1900's James Matheos immigrated from Turkey and bought Peter Mirras' confectionery business and opened a candy store on the corner of Amity Street and Union Street. It later expand to include the ice cream that they became famous for.  His brother Chris Matheos arrived in 1917 and joined the family business. In 1926 the business was doing so well that they tore down the building and built a new store that housed a manufacturing area in the back. The building still exists today in Spencerport as Splatters Pottery Studio. The shop had a soda fountain and sold confectioneries and ice cream.

Interior of Matheos Bronters Ice Cream Copyright Town of Ogden

In the 1950's the business expanded once again when it moved to 177 S. Union Street, which housed an ice cream factory. 

This is part of the ice cream manufacturing machinery used by the Matheos Brothers. 

Matheos was famous for its Velvet Ice Cream and their OO-La-Las (Chocolate covered ice cream bars on a stick)

This sign is in our collection and advertises Matheos Velevet Ice Cream, which was known throughout Western New York.

Menu from Matheos Brothers Chocolate Shop. Back when you could get a milk shake for 10 cents, an orange soda for 5 cents and a Dream sundae for 30 cents. 

Danger Ahead: Communicating by Lantern on the Railway

Working on the railroad required a lot of communication between workers, but the trains and equipment are rather loud, which makes talking or shouting an impractical form of communication. During the day flags would work, but at night kerosene lanterns were the best means of communication. In the 1800's each railway had their own set of signaling systems, but by the 20th century the railways standardized the communication system. In the Spencerport Depot & Canal Museum we have one of those lanterns that was used on the New York Central Railroad.

This lantern was manufactured by the R.E. Dietz company, which was founded in 1840 by Robert E. Dietz when he was 22 years old. The company was located in Brooklyn NY. It is a lighting products manufacturing company best known for their lantern production. 

The Dietz Vesta lantern was a popular brakeman's lantern known for its tubular ventilation system and light and portable design. Notice the notch in the handle, that made the lanterns easier to grip and hold onto when they were being held out of the moving train or when they were being swung around for signaling.

There are five different lantern colors, each has its own meaning. Workers also made signals with the lantern to communicate different commands. 

Here is what the different colors of signal lanterns mean:

White: A lantern with a “white” (clear or frosted glass) globe is a signal that all is well and it is safe for an oncoming train to proceed.

Red: A red globe is a signal to stop, because there is danger ahead. 

Yellow/ Amber: Is a warning A yellow globe means to proceed, but slowly, ready to stop if necessary. 

Blue: Used for worker protection, this color is always “true” blue, cobalt, and it means “STOP.” A blue lantern (or other blue signal) means that the engine or car it is placed on must not be moved for any reason, often because people are working on or around it. A blue signal may be placed down the track as a warning that a stationary car is stopped ahead; and that car may not be moved. The only people authorized to move blue signals are the worker(s) who placed them.

Green: Is a warning signaling a train to proceed slowly with caution. A green lantern may also be displayed on a wreck derrick to signal the engineer of a wreck train.

Meanings taken from: https://www.rubylane.com/blog/categories/vintage-collectibles/american-railroad-lantern-globe-colors-and-their-meanings/

There were also hand signals that communicated important information. Here are a few: 

Swinging the lantern low across the track side to side means STOP!

Holding the lantern out at an arms length when the train is moving means SLOW DOWN!

Holding the lantern an arms length above your head when the train is stopped means GO! RELEASE BRAKES!

Want to learn more signals? Check out some Here!

 It is amazing the amount of information that can be communicated using just lanterns.

I have a mule...

Yesterday one of our volunteers was kind enough to find this gem at a rummage sale and think of us. 

It is a copy of the original held at the Perinton Historical Society. We were thrilled to receive it an had it on the wall that day. It got me thinking about the role that mules and horses played on the Erie Canal. 

The path, that today is used by countless pedestrians and bikers and runs the length of the Erie Canal, is called the towpath and was used by mules pulling boats. Each boat would have stables on board and keep two sets of mules or horses. Each team would operate for 6 hours and then be traded with another team that would work 6 hours (6 hours on, 6 hours off). The mules were guided along the towpath by the hoggee, which is a Scottish name for a mule driver and was usually a young boy. 

Boats could only go as fast as the mules could pull them and on average it was about 2 miles per hour and they would travel about 15 miles per shift (hence the classic 'Low Bridge' song lyrics "15 miles on the Erie Canal")

Our new picture is of a mule being guided off the boat by its tale. The ramp is called a horse bridge and was used to load/unload animals from the boat.  His companion is already in the grass grazing. 

This is a boat in the same location on the return journey weighed down with goods and you can see how much easier it is for the mule to get back on board into the stables rather than down the steep ramp. 

Learn more about the role of mules here at Low Bridge Productions who did a short video about mules on the Erie Canal. 

Boats wouldn't have gotten very far on the Erie Canal without the help of mules and horses.